The Captive

Griffin Force, Book 1

De: Julie Coulter Bellon

Narrado por: Tristan Wright, GraceWright Productions

An American diplomat is kidnapped. A former Navy SEAL and the daughter of a notorious Algerian negotiator are sent in to rescue him. What could go wrong?

Former Navy SEAL Jake Williams is the newly appointed head of a task force assigned to rescue a kidnapped American diplomat. Their only hope is Mya Amari, the daughter of a notorious Algerian hostage negotiator, but she is full of secrets and complications - something Jake takes as a personal challenge. As they grow closer, the threat to the mission escalates and time runs out for the hostages. Can Jake unravel the web of deception to save them all without getting caught in the crossfire?

Mya Amari has been in hiding nearly her entire life to escape her father's enemies. But when her sister is kidnapped along with an American diplomat, she'll do anything to bring her home - including walking into the enemy's lair. She doesn't trust anyone, especially the too-handsome-for-his-own-good Commander Williams, but when all her careful plans explode out of control, he's the only one she can turn to with the truth about her family. Is it too little, too late?

©2015 Julie Coulter Bellon (P)2019 Julie Coulter Bellon

A MUST to listen or read!!

I absolutely loved this book!! ONE AWESOME WHIRLWIND!!! Tristan Wright did a phenomal job narrating this book. This was a fantastic story involving SpecOps! Great mixture of character development, mystery, and action. Takes readers on an emotional and highly compelling journey. I can't wait to read the next installment of Griffin Force. Highly recommend listening (or reading if audiobooks aren’t your thing).

Good start for a new series

This one's been in my TBR for quite awhile and I decided to listen to the audiobook while doing things around the house. I think this was a great kickoff to the Griffin Force series. There was a lot of action, some suspense and the beginning of a romance between the lead characters who gave off a strong dislike to lovers vibe at least at the beginning of the story.

I liked Jake right away but wasn't sure about Mya at first. She was kind of aloof and tried to get around some of the protocols that were in place to keep everyone safe and that's never a good thing. I'm looking forward to reading the next book in the series.

I liked the narrator and thought he did a good job with the many male voices that were in the story. I've looked at the next book in the series and he also narrates that one which I think is a good thing.

Exciting adventure and a whole lot breath holding!

I loved the action, characters and the amazing job Tristan Wright did narrating this story! Ms. Coulter Belton puts you right in the thick of things and with her talent with a pen you feel a part of chaos, struggles, firefights and snark!! Can't wait to read/listen to more of her books!

Action-packed

Action packed story with lots of twists to the plot. Survival and the need to help others outweigh personal comfort for the main characters.

Action Packed Thriller Romance

Action packed thriller , with lots of suspense , and a touch of romance .
A great introduction to an audio book series
The narrator gets five stars .......

Walked extra miles to hear the end!

I love Julie Coulter Bellon’s books. I have read most of them, but I was a little nervous to listen to one because a so so narrator can ruin a good book. No worries here! The narrator did a fantastic job! I usually listen while I exercise, and I walked further than usual to finish the story!

great story - amazing narration!

The Captive is a fast-paced action adventure story that takes us from the US to Algiers as a team is put together to rescue two hostages. It felt like something that could be taken straight from today's news headlines, except we get to see all the unexpected hiccups that lead to the happy ending.

I enjoyed watching the team interaction and watching how they bonded and worked together.... well, mostly (again, ...hiccups). I simply adored Jake -- the way he led his men (and woman), his bond with his sister, his honor and respect for others, his strength and determination to fulfill his mission (whether personal or professional).

Mya was a hard one for me. First impressions of her weren't great, even as much as I tried to empathize and remember where exactly she was coming from and what her head space was like at that moment. All through the book I'd alternate between being drawn to her and admiring her tenacity..... to just not quite understanding her actions and wanting to shake some patience and sense into her.

Despite my struggle with Mya at times, I still felt the attraction and connection between her and Jake and enjoyed how things played out for them.

Overall, this made for a great modern day romantic suspense story full of intrigue and excitement, but wasn't overly heavy.

I listened to this via audible (audio book) and the narrator did an excellent job bringing the story to life. Great voice, great acting (I could recognize which character was talking and who's point of view we were in just by the voice inflections) - I'd enjoy hearing more stories from him.

The first book in what promises to be an excellent series!

Story 5 stars: I just finished listening and I feel like I just got back from a good action movie! Filled with feel-good moments, tense moments, chase scenes, secret hideouts and shoot-outs ...all in the country of Algeria.

There are a few culturally educational moments about the food there, but since the characters were in hiding for most of the book, it’s not got a lot of info about the scenery (which is fine).

A good book! I have already recommended it to some friends. I’m also looking forward to getting more into the lives and background of the other characters in Griffin force in the next books in the series.

Narration (5 stars): the narrator did a very good job with the accents: I heard some subtle accents, some more pronounced, all seemed authentic-sounding!

Well-written and well-read!

*poor, **ok, ***good, ****very good, *****something special

Action and some romance

The Captive is a clean, high drama, military romance. The plot twists kept me enthralled in this fast paced book. The characters and their relationships within the team were interesting and added another layer of intrigue. Well written and very nicely narrated. I enjoyed his performance and differentiations between characters.

Fast-Paced & Captivating!!!

I'm writing this review after listening to all of the audiobooks of the published books in this series and wowsers! I was completely hooked. I would finish one audiobook and quickly download the next one to devour. I loved how the main characters from each Griffin Force book kept having appearances throughout the books. I love when we as readers become invested in these characters and then the author gives us more into what they are doing after their initial book ends. It's one of my favorite parts about book series. It usually has me liking each subsequent book a little more than the first because we get to see more and more.

Tristan Wright is the narrator and I've really enjoyed previous audiobooks that he's narrated so I was excited that he was the narrator for this series! He did great with all of the voices and pulled me right into the story!

This first book focuses on Mya and Jake's story. They meet when a task force is being put together for a rescue mission. Jake is a former Navy Seal and Mya is the daughter of a notorious Algerian hostage negotiator.

Mya has a pretty big secret that could compromise her and the mission. But this secret is so big that she will risk everything for it. And we all know that withholding secrets is dangerous and can also cause people to be hesitant and closed off. Which is exactly happens here. Despite that part of her personality, I liked Mya. I felt her worries and concerns as the book progressed.

And Jake seems a little gruff and tuff (I know it's not spelled that way, just go with me on it) around the edges but inside he's really a softy! He might need a little help from his foster sister, Chivonn, but once he takes her advice, the softer side comes out a lot more.

The dynamics and chemistry between these two was well written. I loved the angst and tension between them. I loved watching them work towards trusting each other. When that trust was fully in place, they were safer and able to accomplish more together.

There were some moments that I wasn't quite sure how they'd get out of the predicament they were in but I kept making guesses at what would happen and listening as fast as I could!

Content: Clean. This book does deal with hostages and really bad guys (the word will trigger Audible and not let me leave a review, so guys who take hostages and do really bad things), moments of peril and guns and attacks. The author did a great job writing it without overly graphic descriptions but if those are triggers for you I wanted you to be aware. There are some kisses but nothing further.

Happy Reading/Listening!!!